A Family Matter
by Shoosherdy
Summary: Just as life was handing them happiness on a silver platter, old demons long forgotten resurface to disturb the peace.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Angela, we adore thee, in this chapter and all those following.

Rating: K+? T? For now.

As/N: That's right, guys. The official start to our years-in-the-making, never-ending story. Y'all can blame me for stalling it this long. Shoosh had this piece up and ready without breaking a sweat while I'm putting off the "first chapter" you guys will see next update like it's a relative asking for money. (She's asking me to add a "You're welcome" here.) I won't be dictating who's written what after this - we'll just assume all credit goes to Shoosh because if she isn't busy writing chapters, she's kicking my colossally slow butt in gear. Sometimes successfully. A huge thanks for checking it out from both of us.

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><p>A Family Matter<br>The Prologue

The sight that greeted her was one for sore eyes…

… Now if only the rest of her wasn't so sore.

The brunette's mouth was practically watering as she watched her girlfriend – wearing nothing but a sports bra and tight training shorts – doing sit-ups. While hanging upside down from a bar. The sheen of sweat that left the blonde's body glistening caused Lucy's eyes to dilate, her mind racing with images of other activities the two of them could engage in to cause Amy to sweat just as much.

_If not more…_

Lucy's smirk – albeit upside down – caught Amy's attention, causing her to stop her work out and simply hang there, smiling warmly at her girlfriend while she continued to catch her breath. The blond couldn't help her warm smile turning into a flirty smirk when she realized her girlfriend was staring, slightly slack-jawed, at her heaving chest.

"See something you like, Luce?"

"Two things, actually…"

The brunette's smirk softened when she heard Amy laugh at her, admittedly, horny remark. Moving closer to her still-hanging-by-her-legs girlfriend, Lucy inwardly cringed when she realized Amy was a small distance higher than her own level on the ground, and that she'd have to reach up to get to her. She mentally coached herself to keep her face its happy-to-see-my-girlfriend mask as to not show Amy that anything was wrong as she stood on tiptoes and kissed the blond.

"So, Spiderman, what's with this?"

Amy, for her part, went back to her work out as she spoke.

"I woke up with too much energy, I was starting to vibrate before I came down here. Figured it was time to actually use our basement-turned-gym. Can't always burn energy in the bedroom."

Lucy's smirk was back in action and matched the one on Amy's face as she finished her sentence.

"You have to admit though, _that_work out is _a lot_more fun than this."

"I don't know… I happen to think the way _my_work out gets _you_all worked up is fun. Have you even looked me in the face at all since you got here?"

This earned Amy eye contact. And boy was she sorry for her remarks then. The fire she saw in Lucy's eyes was enough to sear the memory of this moment into her mind, causing her body to heat up in an entirely different, yet familiar way.

To distract from the overwhelming feelings of want that were currently settling themselves into the room, the blond suddenly had a thought.

"Hey, if this makes me Spiderman, does it also make you MJ?"

This, acting like a bucket of cold water on Lucy's libido, caused the brunette to shiver. If she was being honest with herself, Lucy was secretly pleased. Amy's eyes – which were getting darker by the minute – were almost enough for her to forget about the overpowering aching of her body.

Almost.

"Blergh. Me, as a redhead? Are you kidding?"

Finishing up her set with a flourish, Amy proceeded to maneuver herself down from the bar, landing on her feet with the grace of a gymnast ballerina – too caught up in her landing to notice Lucy swallowing thickly.

_Grace of a gymnast ballerina? What the hell kind of person is that? Nice job with the thinking thing, Lucy… Note to self: make Amy wear those shorts more often… _

As a result of her train of thought, Lucy missed whatever it was Amy said until she had a face full of sweaty towel.

Sputtering, Lucy pulled the towel down, about to complain before getting side-tracked by Amy's sweaty physique, to which Amy just rolled her eyes.

"So is that a yes to sparring? I've still got a lot more energy to burn."

Lucy paled. That was _definitely_not a yes to sparring. Her brain was threatening to shut down her body in order to recover, and it must have shown on her face because next thing she knew, Amy was stepping into her personal space with a concerned frown.

"Hey, you alright? You don't look so hot."

Trying to act tough, the brunette scoffed, busying herself with the boxing bag hanging in one corner of the room.

"Geez, babe, how'd I get so lucky getting a sweet talker like you? I've just had a hard day at the docks, so no to sparring. I can hold the bag for you though if you wanna go a round with the punching bag."

Amy, still narrowing her eyes in assessment of Lucy's condition, nodded slowly. She expertly put on her boxing gloves – smiling faintly at the custom-made, blue plaid sparring gear Lucy had gotten her as a gag gift.

Lucy's eyes were shut tight long before the first blow shook her to her bones. The pain that was screaming throughout her bruised body seemed to be radiating out of her very atoms.

_She sure wasn't kidding about the energy… it's okay, not like I __like__to breathe anyway…_

For the next fifteen minutes, Lucy took it like a soldier. But when minute fifteen looked like it was threatening to become minute sixteen and more, the brunette raised her hand and stepped back from the bag, wheezing as she struggled to make her lungs work.

Amy, frowning with concern, dropped onto her knees next to Lucy as the latter sat leaned against a wall, trying to calm herself enough to breathe normally again.

"Now will you tell me what's wrong?"

"I told you. It's just been a long and hard day at the docks, and my body's kind of now realizing it. I'll be fine, once the burning sensation wears off."

Amy, for her part, just continued to frown.

"You should have told me how bad it was, I would have taken it more easily on you-"

Judging by the look that flashed in Lucy's eyes, that wasn't the right thing for Amy to say.

"It's not _that _bad for you to think I can't handle myself in a fight!"

"You're out of breath just by keeping the punching bag _I_was working on steady."

Lucy – stubborn, stubborn Lucy – just waved it away, determined not to let weakness show.

"It's just sore muscles, nothing a hot shower can't loosen up."

Noting that Lucy seemed to be breathing normally and there seemed to be no signs of her being in pain, Amy stood up to help the brunette to her feet.

"Yeah, okay. A hot shower sounds wonderful. If you'll wait for me, we can go together after I'm done with my push-ups."

Lucy swallowed. Her mind was screaming for her to get out of this situation, while her privates begged her to stay and watch Amy do push-ups, then let the blond join her in the shower.

It was when Amy – standing pressed against Lucy's entire body – softly, _seductively_, pressed her lips to that one sweet spot on Lucy's neck that Lucy knew.

This was how she was going to die.

Teasing lips that wordlessly promised more –_ so much more _– at a time when she could not comply was exactly what was going to kill the notorious super villain Lucy Diamond.

The struggle was real for Lucy as Amy lost herself in the sensation of touching the brunette. The former found herself incapable of breath again for an all new reason.

With a frustrated groan, Lucy extracted herself from Amy's embrace as soon as she felt a warm hand slipping under her shirt, knowing that if she didn't move now, she'd get caught.

Kissing the blonde's temple to lessen the annoyance her movement created, Lucy smiled sheepishly.

"You know I would love nothing more than to save water with you while you get all the hard to get places _clean, _but I'm afraid I'm going to decline the offer, babe, I'm sorry."

If anything, that just annoyed Amy more.

"I'm sorry! I'm just really sore, so I want to hurry up with the shower and maybe take a nap."

That seemed to work as Amy nodded, kissing Lucy again – this time on the cheek as to not start anything.

It was an hour later when Amy jogged her way back up from the basement to their bedroom, noting the lack of Lucy wear littered around their bedroom as she expected. Listening closer, the blond frowned when she didn't hear the water running. Was Lucy done already? If so, where was she?

Checking the bathroom door, Amy's frown deepened. The door was locked. It was an unspoken agreement, one of domestic life's comforts, that permitted Amy to step into the bathroom and join her girlfriend in the shower whenever she wanted to. Jiggling the door knob a little, Amy was thoroughly displeased with being denied of her domestic comfort and was losing her patience with the barrier between them.

"Lucy? Is everything alright in there?"

Lucy stood, dry as the Sahara and rooted to her spot in front of the mirror, her body pale with a cold sweat covering her shaking form. The pain of all of her recently accumulated injuries increasing by the minute, Lucy was left standing stiff as a board, in a bra and her jeans after being unable to remove more than her shirt without feeling like she wanted to die.

Hands gripping the edges of the sink with a white-knuckled grip, and her eyes locked on the black and blue map of bruises covering her torso, Lucy called out with as steady a voice as she could manage, "Yeah, all good. Just need some time to myself, Ames. I'll be out soon."

Whether or not Amy believed her wasn't really a concern of Lucy's at that moment.

No, she was more concerned with keeping her injuries a secret from Amy.

And more importantly, what was she going to do about her _problem_at the docks?


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: Thanks to any and all following this story on ATD, FF, or AO3. We both appreciate it immensely and will try to make sure the story moves along at a good pace. Though if we get distracted, comments or feedback are always very focusing ;)

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><p>A Family Matter<br>Chapter One

Sometimes, this house was just too eerily quiet. Routine creaks hadn't settled into the foundation yet and the constant ebb and flow of the Mediterranean against their beach of a back yard had long ago become background noise. Maybe this house was just too big for the two of them even with a new puppy that only seemed to eat, nip off the buttons from their shirts, and sleep.

Their apartment had been better. Relatively. Bickering downstairs neighbors had kept Amy immersed in Spanish, a thousand shrieks and laughs floated in from the street, occasional sirens wailed… It had all slowly driven Lucy insane when she was actually home. Yet she hadn't asked once if they should use the money her thieving life had left tucked away to upgrade to the villa she had her eye on. It turned into some rite of passage for Lucy that the villa be bought with their own legitimate money.

It took just under a year of late nights and a ridiculous amount of dedication to her new sailboat renting business for Lucy to buy the spacious two-story house, Amy insisting on covering her year of tuition herself. Any arguments about helping out on either end were shut down on the few evenings Lucy was home. But settling into the villa a few months back, things were finally able to slow down for them. The renting business was well-established and Lucy was home more, celebrated with the puppy Amy brought home one day. Lucy and the aptly named Buttons were thick as thieves from their first glance. The villa was their playground with panting, barking, and laughs echoing everywhere.

Yet not a sound could be heard now.

Amy sighed in the slightest, relieved yet perturbed by the slim noise. It dissipated all too quickly, a press of the remote replacing it with the last few minutes of _Two Weeks Notice_. The briefest smirk flitted across her lips at the first sighting of Sandra Bullock. Childish, maybe, but she was a sucker for Sandy's girl-next-door roles. The things _While You Were Sleeping_ could do to her…

Eyes roaming the screen, she admittedly agreed Sandy's apartment was on the small side. Perfect for two. Cozy, warm, comfortable. Amy rolled to her back on the couch as Sandy ordered Chinese – a nice tradition between her and Luce too – and the credits began. _At least now there's musi-_

An interrupting screech from the TV jolted Amy back upright from well-worn habit. The screen switched from multi-colored bars to a news reporter jogging in the darkness, something blazing brilliantly in the background and fire trucks littering the scene. Even before the reporter said he was investigating a fiery wreckage, Amy was gasping for breath, having recognized the marina and Lucy's newest baby going up in flames.

It took a single word – bomb – for Amy to grab nothing but her keys and sprint to the car. Normally the short drive or lingering walk to the docks for lunch with her girl was a leisurely one: waves and the beach to her right between occasional houses, an open square that usually held the morning market to her left. But now, it could have been snowing out and she wouldn't have noticed. Lucy replaced the scenery. She saw Lucy instead of the road. Nothing but Lucy.

She stomped on the brake, ditching the car on the surrounding beach after noticing the emergency vehicles crowding both entrances.

Instead, she ran. Ran like bullets were biting at her bare heels. Ran, for the first time in a year, like she used to.

She momentarily stumbled in the sand, urging herself to continue on even faster as she took in the scene. The fire from the sailboat was licking at the sky, no amount of water dousing it even with dozens of streams fighting it back. _Damn it, Lucy… _

_No. You can't yet… Focus._

She turned inward, working on steadying her ragged breath and calming her throbbing heartbeat as her head swiveled this way and that, all for a glimpse of the former thief. _Damn it… Damn it. Damn it! _"LUCY!"

Long legs that didn't even feel like hers anymore sent her racing into the marina and past the few lines of bystanders, allowing her to break the cops' perimeter before an entire thicket of lingering policemen wised up and caught her by the waist. Their grips loosened as she writhed amongst their shouts, but where progress was made, new hands pushed her back.

"Let me go! That's Lucy's—"

"Get back, Ma'am!"

"No! Let me—" _Lucy…_ "Let me go! She needs help!"

Hands, arms, and entire bodies just kept pushing her back, her shouts turning to pleads.

"No one was aboard the boat! We can't let you closer, so just _calm down_!"

The option of breath finally returned even as a cold rush chilled her veins that her girlfriend still wasn't in sight. She settled, eyes darting everywhere for Lucy and coming up with a sea of dark-haired women in the crowd, but not _her _brunette. "Where—" She grabbed onto the nearest police officer as he backed up, everyone having released her. "Have you seen Lucy Reynolds? She owns this marina. Please…"

"I haven't seen her, now please, Ma'am…"

She weakly released him, eyes flickering to any of the others, reading the same answer in each officer's eyes. She blinked, turning to the person beside her filming the wreckage. "Can I use your phone? Please?"

The teenaged boy seemed annoyed, but offered it all the same. Only Lucy didn't pick up after countless rings. Nor did she the second time. Useless wetness was blinked back when Scud didn't answer his either. Hearing the third person's hello actually surprised her. "Janet! Janet, please tell me you're watching the news."

"Of course! Scud called me and said he's fine. He tried calling you too, but apparently your phone just kept ringing. Are you down there now?"

"Yeah, m'here. Janet, does anyone know what happened?"

"Well, the news report was just saying stuff about a bomb. They don't know who or why, really. Or when. Or much of anything, but that seems to be all news reports lately."

"To Lucy," she all but whimpered, "What happened to Lucy…"

"Oh. Sorry, Scud hasn't heard from her. He's keeping an eye on the hospitals. Said he already checked the marina or something, though the police weren't letting him through anywhere. Maybe it'd just be best to be near your phone if she calls? I'll have Scud call if anything comes up, okay?"

Amy nodded. "Thanks…" Her voice sounded small even to her as the call clicked to an end, the teenager snatching the phone back just in time to record the last of the vicious flames before the sea swallowed the boat entirely.

Her feet should move, she knew, but her eyes just kept searching the slowly dissipating crowd, looking for the familiar flash of black that, for once, never came.


End file.
